Athletes

Anne "Grandma Luge" Abernathy, from the United States Virgin Islands, has competed in six Winter Olympic Games, including the 2006 Games in Torino, Italy. In each of these Games, she was the oldest luge athlete, and at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, Abernathy was the first female winter Olympian over 50. Abernathy consistently ranks in the top 20 in world rankings and frequently finishes on the podium in competitions. In 2004, Abernathy was awarded the Athletes International Olympic Athlete of the Year. She has also been awarded the International Luge Federation Medal of Honor and was nominated twice for the prestigious International Olympic Committee Women in Sports Award. That same year, she placed third at the Nations Cup in Austria, as well as at the Nations Cup in Germany. In 2002, Abernathy broke a 1936 record and became the oldest female athlete in any sport to compete in the Olympic Winter Games. Added to the list of her many firsts were the first to write an online Olympic journal (1994), first to compete with a camera onboard - a 1992 addition, which led to a nomination for a technical Emmy - and the first female Caribbean Winter Olympian (1988). Over the years, Abernathy has overcome a concussion, cancer, broken bones, knee surgeries and a hurricane along the course of her luge career.The Discovery Health Channel opened its series, "Impact, Stories of Survival," with a feature of Abernathy's miraculous recovery from a traumatic head injury. (10/06)